At this time of year I feel especially full of gratitude. It’s the anniversary of finding my home on Vancouver Island. Much has happened in the nine years since I first arrived, and much has happened this week.
On Tuesday I facilitated a session for students – members of the Student Leadership Team and two of the Intercultural Peer Connectors. It was a diverse group – a mixture of local and international students, some based on the Island, others still overseas and hoping to make it over to Canada – the perfect group for an exploration of Intercultural Communication and Unconscious Bias. Over the years at the College, I’ve continued to develop this session (usually delivered for Peer Tutors), reflecting on my own learning / evolution in terms of intercultural fluency, and in this past year, in terms of delivery. I tried a couple of new online engagement activities (using Jamboard and Google Docs) and was pleased with the participation. We also did a breakout room – and no one ‘disappeared’ which was good. Overall I was impressed with the level of participation.
I completed a summary of what I completed in September in terms of OGE and CTLI priorities. It’s very useful having this overview and has helped me identify what I need to work on this month. ‘Stuff’ always takes longer than anticipated and other bits and pieces come up on a daily basis, but it’s good to have the end goal in site. I know I still need to finalize my yearly plan and seeing what I’ve managed so far will help with the planning.
It was so interesting going back and reading through the comments made by everyone I interviewed for the Intercultural Awareness Environmental Scan. Loud and clear came the message that in an ideal world, everyone would have some kind of international travel experience. We need to be taken outside of ourselves, often beyond our comfort zones, to be able to fully appreciate that the world is complex, diverse and that as humans we all see the world through a different lens. One of my questions during interviews explored what we can do to support those unable or not ready to engage in overseas activities. The list of suggestions was long; some we’re already doing or are ‘on the list’ and others new and refreshing. I’m hoping we can take these suggestions and see where they fit within a Teaching and Learning Strategy, along with other initiatives at the College.
My PD course continues to challenge and intrigue. This past week we explored Emotional Intelligence (EI) and leadership. In the past I’ve read some of the work on EI, but this was the first time that I’ve reflected consciously on EI in terms of leadership. I’ve also been called on to consider my own leadership styles – I’d not considered myself a leader before starting this course, but now I have a better understand of what leadership means, that it goes beyond title and position. We had to watch this video on Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence, which was thought provoking. I’m starting to reflect on why I avoid certain styles of leadership, and why others resonate more for me.
I’ve finished my week by getting up to date with scheduling meetings, Story Circles and making sure I’m ready for the week ahead. I’m looking forward to getting going with planning the Human Library Initiative and finally, starting on the Student Success Modules.
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